WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Waldrum on why Ireland will present a new challenge for Super Falcons
With the clock ticking down to the kick-off of Nigeria’s last Group B match against eliminated Republic of Ireland in the ongoing Women’s World Cup, Nigeria’s coach, Randy Waldrum has been speaking on the match.
“This game is a little bit different for us. Coming from the US, I knew Canada very well and have even coached quite a few of those players over the years. I knew how they were going to play and making the game plan was a little easier. We scouted Australia for a while and knew what their strengths were.
“Ireland have done extremely well in this tournament. Even though they are eliminated, they played two very good matches and were probably a little bit unlucky not to get a result against Canada.
“They are a top-20 team [in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking] and we’re 40th. A lot of people may go into the match thinking, ‘You’ve got those results against Canada and Australia, so this should be an easier game’.
“It’s really quite the opposite because Ireland played those first two teams a certain way –they had to defend a lot and pick their chances to counter. I have a feeling they are going to be much more offensive against us because there’s nothing to lose for them now. So, I don’t know if I can prepare [Nigeria’s strategy] from what I’ve seen in their first
On what he wants to see from Nigeria in the game and Ireland’s main threats…
“I hope it’s a match where we continue to grow our confidence. I thought we were better in the second match [against Australia] in controlling more parts of the game. I would hope we would have more of the ball in this match and we can attack a little more than we have in the first two games.
“Ireland are also very good on the counter, though. They are good in wide areas and like to get the ball in the box from there or win corners. They have a couple of special players.
“I think Katie McCabe is fantastic and Denise O’Sullivan played for me at Houston Dash. I know her well and she’s a very good player.”
On his team’s approach knowing a draw will be enough to qualify…
“We’re looking for a win as that could see us finish top of the table. I know the 1999 team were very successful [Nigeria reached the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals at that tournament] and we’ve got out of the group stage twice in our history, but I don’t know that any team has had this kind of competition in the group before.
“It would be unprecedented to win the group, so three points would be great. But honestly, I’d be quite happy to get one and advance. It’s just such a difficult group with three tough teams. I’ll take a draw if that’s the result we get. ”
On what it would mean to progress to the last 16…
“We’ve worked really hard to get to this point. We have to be professional enough to see it through.
“As a coach, I know there are no guarantees. Before the tournament, I’m not sure I could honestly have said I thought we’d be at the top of the group at this stage. I always felt we’d have the talent to advance out of the group but they’ve even exceeded my expectations. Now we’re here, we have to do what good teams do – we have to learn to finish the job.”
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
What a goal-laden day for Nigeria; Falconets also win with wide margin!
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Nigeria Super Falconets gave Nigerians additional joy after their 4-0 defeat of Venezuela in Cali, Colombia in their last group match. Their victory followed up with an earlier 3-0 win by the Super Eagles in their opening Group D match with Benin Republic in Uyo.
The Falconets’ win means they have qualified for the Round of 16 where they are most likely going to face Japan when the group games are completed on Sunday.
Both Nigeria and Germany tied on six points, but Germany have one goal better than Nigeria on goal difference.
The Super Falcons made early hays when Amina Bello put Nigeria ahead after 16 minutes. Chiamaka Okwuchukwu doubled the lead in the 28th minute before Flourish Sebastine put in the third five minutes into the added time of the first half. Joy Igbokwe put in the back breaker four minutes into the added time of the second hald.
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Okwuchukwu shines despite Nigeria’s defeat to Germany in U-20 Women’s World Cup
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Nigeria’s U-20 Women’s World Cup campaign suffered a setback as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against a clinical German side in Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday night.
The result secures Germany’s place in the knockout stages, while leaving the Falconets with work to do in their final group match.
In an end-to-end encounter, both sides created numerous chances, but it was Germany who struck first. Cora Zicai’s pinpoint cross found Alara Sehitler, who nodded home in the 17th minute to give the Europeans the lead.
Nigeria’s star performer, Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, had earlier come close to opening the scoring with a magnificent solo run, only to be denied by German goalkeeper Rebecca Adamczyk.
Okwuchukwu’s persistence paid off early in the second half when she capitalized on a defensive mix-up to draw Nigeria level, celebrating with Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous ‘siuuu’ celebration.
However, Germany’s quality shone through as they regained the lead through Sofie Zdebel, again assisted by the impressive Zicai.
Despite Okwuchukwu having another goal ruled out for offside, Germany sealed the win in stoppage time with Sarah Ernst’s powerful header.
The defeat leaves Nigeria on three points from two matches, with their final group game against Venezuela in Cali now crucial to their hopes of progressing.
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Points of Note in Falconets’ loss to Germany
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Germany beat Nigeria’s Falconets 3-1 in their second group game of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. With Germany’s win, the Europeans have made it to the last 16 stage, even with a game to spare.
The coach of Germany, Kathrin Peter acknowledged the efforts of the Nigerian team , saying: “It was a really tough match today.
“That was expected, but we actually had big problems in defence. They had a few chances where we had the necessary luck, we have to admit that.
“But in the second half we were really good and asserted our dominance and I think we deserved to win in the end.”
Here are some major points:
- Germany beat Nigeria 2-0 in the final match 14 years ago in Germany.
- Germany have now won their last four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup meetings with Nigeria. Alex Popp inspired a 2-0 victory in the 2010 final, Lena Petermann settled the decider in extra-time four year later, and Stefanie Sanders was the solitary scorer in Group D in 2018.
- This was just Nigeria’s third loss in their past 24 group matches at the tournament.
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